A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2021
IN BRIEF
Astoria woman injured
in crash on Highway 101 Business
AN ASTORIA
SUNRISE
An Astoria woman was injured Wednesday evening
after a head-on collision on U.S. Highway 101 Business.
Police, who were called to the scene at about 7 p.m.,
say a man driving an Chevrolet Aveo was heading south-
bound when he did not follow the path of the roadway
at a sharp curve and crossed the centerline into a Hyun-
dai Sonata.
The people in the Aveo were not injured. A pregnant
23-year-old Astoria woman, who was a passenger in
the Sonata, was injured and taken to Columbia Memo-
rial Hospital in Astoria. She was later fl own to Oregon
Health & Science University Hospital in Portland.
Police investigating break-ins
at Astoria food carts
Police are investigating break-ins at the three food
carts in front of Reach Break Brewing in Astoria.
Doors on the food carts were found pried open on
Thursday morning. Some had personal property and
money taken.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Offi -
cer Alex Whitney at awhitney@astoria.or.us or
503-325-4411.
New Seaside campus ready for students
SEASIDE — Seaside School District campus build-
ings are ready for in-person class instruction, proj-
ect manager Jim Henry said at Tuesday’s school board
meeting.
Construction is mostly complete, waiting a “few
punch list items” and a completion of exterior remedia-
tion to the eastern side of the building.
“We wish a ribbon was wrapped on top of the build-
ings, but we can have students in school,” Henry said.
In December, members of the construction team con-
tinued work on exterior remediation, fi nishing replace-
ment of 22,000 linear square feet of weather barrier after
the fi rst application failed to meet specifi cations.
Work on the west side of the high school and middle
school is near completion with the removal of scaffold-
ing and installation of metal panels, Henry said. On the
east facade, masonry work remains. “We’ve been seeing
good progress. All of the tests have been thumbs up,”
he said.
The work is expected to continue through February.
County offers surveys
to help with vaccine rollout
Online surveys are available for anyone who wants to
receive a coronavirus vaccine.
The Clatsop County vaccine task force will use
the information submitted in the surveys to notify
people when they are eligible to register for a vaccina-
tion event.
Visit the county’s website to fi ll out a survey.
People can email the task force at covid19vaccine@
clatsopeoc.com with any questions.
As of Wednesday, the county has administered 2,087
vaccines.
County seeking volunteers
for COVID-19 call center
Clatsop County is seeking volunteers for its coronavi-
rus public information call center.
Volunteers will be asked to do several tasks,
including test scheduling, answering questions and
assisting people to make appointments for vaccination
events.
Training will be provided. A criminal background
verifi cation is required.
Volunteer shifts are 1.5 to 2 hours from 9 a.m. to noon
and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The call center adheres to federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines,
including mask-wearing at all times, social distancing
and multiple cleanings of the workspace.
Visit the county’s website to volunteer. For more
information email hr@co.clatsop.or.us.
— The Astorian
DEATH
Jan. 18, 2021
CROW, Joe Luis, 26, of Aberdeen, Washington,
formerly of Westport, Oregon, died in Spokane, Wash-
ington. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary of Astoria is
in charge of the arrangements.
Death
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Jewell School District Board, 6 p.m., Jewell School Li-
brary, 83874 Highway 103.
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., (electronic meeting).
TUESDAY
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board of
Directors, 5:15 p.m., (electronic meeting).
Astoria Planning Commission, 5:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
Seaside Airport Advisory Committee, 6 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main
Ave.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Sunrise at the Astoria Column on Wednesday morning.
Legislature cranks up 2021
session after two-day delay
SALEM — After a two-
day delay caused by FBI
reports of possible right-
wing attacks on state capi-
tals, the Oregon Legislature
got down to the business of
the 2021 session.
On Thursday, 12 commit-
tees kicked off with virtual
hearings. About 46 House
members held a 20-minute
fl oor session to move along
the fi rst batches of bills onto
the political conveyor belt of
readings and assignment to
committee.
State Rep. Ron Noble,
R-McMinnville, gave what
was offi cially the opening
prayer, but was more a plea
for cooperation amid the cri-
ses and chaos — with an
“amen” at the end.
“We must fi gure out a way
to climb out of the mire, and
the time is now,” Noble said.
“Is it naive to think we can
create a vision forward and
people with differing options
can engage without vilifying
each other? Maybe. But I’m
willing to try.”
Noble said the alternative
of remaining in the political
mire would destroy families,
communities, the state and
nation.
A lot of trees died to churn
out the 1,500 bills and reso-
lutions submitted by House
and Senate members for the
2021 session.
But Rep. Julie Fahey,
D-Eugene, tweeted a simple
truth: “Just because there’s
a bill about something, it
doesn’t mean ‘the L egisla-
ture’ or ‘the Democrats’ want
to pass it. At this point, it
means one legislator had an
idea.”
If history is a guide, recy-
cle bins around the Capitol
will fi ll up fast with much
of the legislation. In normal
years, about 20% of bills
make it to the full House and
Senate for consideration.
House Speaker Tina
Kotek, D-Portland, and Sen-
ate President Peter Courtney,
D-Salem, are eager to cap
the time lawmakers are in
Salem and the hours staff in
the Capitol have to work on
preparing bills and support
(USPS 035-000)
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Capitol security
Nathan Howard/Getty Images
The state increased security around the Capitol over concerns
about right-wing protesters.
materials. That’s a formula
for an extra high attrition
rate on legislation not fast-
tracked from the beginning.
Along with the offi cial
crises in front of the Legis-
lature, the House and Sen-
ate committee on redistrict-
ing will be closely watched.
Every 10 years, the new
c ensus numbers are used to
re draw 60 state House dis-
tricts, 30 state Senate dis-
tricts and fi ve c ongressional
districts.
Oregon could get a sixth
congressional district. The
fi nal numbers on which
redistricting decisions will
be based won’t be released
until April 1.
If the Legislature can-
not agree on the new district
lines, the mapping of state
legislative districts goes to
Secretary of State Shemia
Fagan, while congressional
lines go to a federal panel.
There are often court chal-
lenges. But the new bound-
aries will be in place for the
2022 elections.
Virus precautions
State political reporters
recently held an online meet-
ing with legislative leaders
and Gov. Kate Brown to get
a preview of politics and pol-
icy agendas for 2021.
The Capitol has been
closed to the public since
Brown declared a state of
emergency in March as
COVID-19 began its spread
through Oregon. The Leg-
islature has held three short
special sessions to deal with
emergency measures tied to
the pandemic, wildfi res and
police reform.
Senate Minority Leader
Fred Girod, R-Stayton, said
the regular session of the
Legislature should not con-
tinue with the public only
able to take part via online
testimony.
“You do what you can to
make it so that the public has
a right to come in and tes-
tify,” Girod said. “There are
billions of dollars that are
going to be spent.”
Girod, 70, said he knew
that with many older mem-
bers and those with health
issues,
the
Legislature
included people who were in
high-risk categories for seri-
ous illness and even death.
But he argued a year of
Oregonians being limited
to virtual involvement was
not acceptable in a transpar-
ent democracy. Opening the
Capitol in some form was
“worth the risk.”
Courtney
sharply
disagreed.
“I am not willing to play
God with this stuff,” said
Courtney, 77.
Nationwide, over 150
state
lawmakers
have
become
infected
with
COVID-19, according to the
Ballotpedia political website,
and seven have died.
Oregon’s fi ve short days
of special sessions since
March had avoided any
infections. But the regular
session would require many
more gatherings in Salem.
Reopening the Capitol would
increase the viral exposure
on each person inside.
“You may be willing to
take the risk, but I am not,”
Violent assaults on the
Capitol on Dec. 21 and the
U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 are
driving an aggressive review
of security in Salem.
Oregon is one of 20 states
that does not require visitors
to pass through metal detec-
tors to enter the Capitol. It’s
one of 45 states that allow
some form of open carry of
fi rearms, including AR-15
semi-automatic rifl es and
other long guns. It’s even one
of about 20 states that allow
the guns to be carried into the
Capitol.
Senate Minority Leader
Christine Drazan, R-Canby,
said most proteste rs would
say they carry the guns as an
expression of their Second
Amendment right to bear
arms.
An incredulous House
Majority Leader Barbara
Smith Warner, D-Portland,
vigorously disagreed. The
recent attacks show that the
presence of armed proteste rs
has a different motivation:
“It’s to intimidate,” she said.
All aspects of security
are under review, but any
changes would be announced
in public in advance and any
change to gun laws would
likely require legislation.
Courtney lives in Salem,
represents a Salem district
and has worked in the Cap-
itol since he was fi rst elected
to the Legislature in 1981.
Surveying the reality
today — the Capitol shut-
tered for 10 months, the
attack on the Legislature,
concrete blocks placed in
front of the entrance, lower
outside windows shielded
against future riots by ply-
wood, yards of fencing and
National Guard troops on the
grounds — makes Courtney
immensely sad.
“This is really a traumatic
thing to have Oregon, which
is the most open Capitol in
the nation, about to become
a fortress,” he said. “I never
thought I’d see that. I t breaks
my heart.”
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group
and Pamplin Media Group.
Brown gives unusual State of the State address
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
Established July 1, 1873
Courtney said.
By GARY WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Gov. Kate Brown gave
an unusual S tate of the S tate
talk, her next to last as Ore-
gon’s governor.
The virtual address Thurs-
day wasn’t unusual. It’s
become commonplace in the
10 months since the coronavi-
rus pandemic swept through
the world and health proto-
cols call for social distancing.
Brown noted that Thurs-
day was exactly one year
ago, when the federal Cen-
ters for Disease Control and
Prevention confi rmed the fi rst
COVID-19 case in the United
States, that she convened a
state team to prepare for a
potential outbreak. The gov-
ernor issued her fi rst execu-
tive orders on the pandemic
March 8 .
What was unusual was
that Brown invited four other
speakers to join her virtually
for 45 minutes to discuss her
priorities of ending the pan-
demic and promoting vac-
cinations, recovering from
the Labor Day wildfi res and
advancing racial equity.
They were:
• Dr. Antwon Chavis, a
pediatrician at Oregon Health
& Science University’s Doer-
nbecher Children’s Hospital
in Portland, who spoke about
how the pandemic affected
children and families.
• Chief Christiana Rain-
bow Plews of the Upper
McKenzie Rural Fire Pro-
tection District, who directed
efforts against the Holiday
Farms fi re even as her own
home burned.
• Reyna Lopez of PCUN
farmworkers union based in
Woodburn and Paul Solomon
of Sponsors Inc. of Eugene,
both members of the gover-
nor’s Racial Justice Coun-
cil, which recommended
steps toward racial equity that
Brown included in her pro-
posed 2021-23 budget.
Echoing the “Build Back
Better” campaign theme of
President Joe Biden, Brown
said it was not enough for
Oregon to recover from the
pandemic, the resulting eco-
nomic downturn and the
wildfi res.
“We must recognize that
going back to the ‘way things
were’ will not move us for-
ward,” the Democrat said.
“Every diffi cult turn of this
past year has only proven this
point, further exacerbating
existing disparities … The
fi rst step to creating oppor-
tunity is recognizing that rac-
ism is endemic to our sys-
tems, impacting every part of
our culture and our economy.
I am committed to ensuring
that the world we build as we
emerge from this last year is a
more equitable one.”
Brown has two years to
go in her second term. She
leaves offi ce on Jan. 9, 2023.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group
and Pamplin Media Group.